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It can not be shipped by USPS service, or any non-freight UPS or FedEx services - it's too long and exceeds Length+Girth limits also.
Often Greyhound is mentioned as an option for awkward shipments, but it exceed their limits as far as I was able to determine (100 pounds and/or 82" L x 47" W x 29" H) http://www.shipgreyhound.com/e/Pages/Home.aspx
It is possible to ship large objects, bulky shipments like 8 18x18x16 50lb boxes, or a half pallet of boxes, etc via truck freight through methods using sites like UShip or Freightcenter.com, but I never actually performed shipments through those (although I did set up accounts and got quotes a couple of times).
Those are analogous to eBay or Craigslist, but for shipping. Online bulletin boards for owner/operators and others who want to find loads for the backhaul, etc. Basically they hook up individual drivers or small trucking companies with individual shippers like you or me. You submit your shipment details, and receive an email with a series of quotes.
Since it's freight, it's not straightforward and is variable in terms of insurance, liability, pickup/dropoff, etc. In most? cases we are talking about semi truck/trailers, where most of the quotes are based on picking up/delivering to loading docks with forklifts, unloading crews, etc available. You can get door to door delivery of say a half pallet, but it costs dearly if they quote including liftgate trucks at both ends.
There a million ways to slice and dice it, and there would probably be a smaller shipper that can handle your oversize but not liftgate or forklift requiring package.
Using those truck freight services is a bit problematic for eBay sales since you don't know where it's going. Unless things have changed, you can list it with freight services specified for the shipping in the listing and you and the buyer work it out after the sale, but you really need to have a handle on the worst case scenario before listing in order to determine whether it's even viable to list, and to be able to give prospective buyers a ballpark before they purchase.
So you'd need to set up say, a freightcenter.com account, figure out the final packaged weight and dimensions of your item, decide if you are going to drop it off at the origin location in your city or pay extra for pickup, same for destination end, submit a quote for a worst case destination distance from your location, and see what sort of quotes you get.
Went ahead and hunted down my info - turns out my Freightcenter account is still active - and ran a couple of quick quotes assuming some things, like a weight of 50lb. (actually don't think that is really going to matter given the size).
(Looks like it's changed a bit from what I can remember, and quick quotes are immediate and whole process is easier than I recall. Did not check out Uship which I recall was emailed quote responce after a day or so)
College Station, TX (residential pickup) to Seattle (residential delivery):
Numbers vary widely. A quote for Sacramento, CA to NY (much further than TX to Seattle), set for pick up from the business here (instead of residential pickup) resulted in lowest quote of $174.97. Sacramento to NY with residential pickup resulted in half the number of quotes and a low quote of $325.73.
I'm also sure the quotes increase as the target moves out of a big city like NY or Seattle, so you would need to check a rural zipcode in Washington near Seattle (pretty much worst case distance if you exclude Alaska and Hawaii in your listing), to be sure it doesn't increase crazily. (I suspect College Station as an origin point resulted in higher numbers - doesn't seem like a huge place)
Also note that as you make it easier for the truckers (business pickup or you drop it off at a terminal and same idea on receiving end), the prices go down and you get more quotes (the truckers who just want to haul something but don't want to play FedEx or UPS delivery guy).
As lja said, you might be better off with Craigslist or other local selling venues with local pickup.
It can not be shipped by USPS service, or any non-freight UPS or FedEx services - it's too long and exceeds Length+Girth limits also.
Often Greyhound is mentioned as an option for awkward shipments, but it exceed their limits as far as I was able to determine (100 pounds and/or 82" L x 47" W x 29" H) http://www.shipgreyhound.com/e/Pages/Home.aspx
It is possible to ship large objects, bulky shipments like 8 18x18x16 50lb boxes, or a half pallet of boxes, etc via truck freight through methods using sites like UShip or Freightcenter.com, but I never actually performed shipments through those (although I did set up accounts and got quotes a couple of times).
Those are analogous to eBay or Craigslist, but for shipping. Online bulletin boards for owner/operators and others who want to find loads for the backhaul, etc. Basically they hook up individual drivers or small trucking companies with individual shippers like you or me. You submit your shipment details, and receive an email with a series of quotes.
Since it's freight, it's not straightforward and is variable in terms of insurance, liability, pickup/dropoff, etc. In most? cases we are talking about semi truck/trailers, where most of the quotes are based on picking up/delivering to loading docks with forklifts, unloading crews, etc available. You can get door to door delivery of say a half pallet, but it costs dearly if they quote including liftgate trucks at both ends.
There a million ways to slice and dice it, and there would probably be a smaller shipper that can handle your oversize but not liftgate or forklift requiring package.
Using those truck freight services is a bit problematic for eBay sales since you don't know where it's going. Unless things have changed, you can list it with freight services specified for the shipping in the listing and you and the buyer work it out after the sale, but you really need to have a handle on the worst case scenario before listing in order to determine whether it's even viable to list, and to be able to give prospective buyers a ballpark before they purchase.
So you'd need to set up say, a freightcenter.com account, figure out the final packaged weight and dimensions of your item, decide if you are going to drop it off at the origin location in your city or pay extra for pickup, same for destination end, submit a quote for a worst case destination distance from your location, and see what sort of quotes you get.
Went ahead and hunted down my info - turns out my Freightcenter account is still active - and ran a couple of quick quotes assuming some things, like a weight of 50lb. (actually don't think that is really going to matter given the size).
(Looks like it's changed a bit from what I can remember, and quick quotes are immediate and whole process is easier than I recall. Did not check out Uship which I recall was emailed quote responce after a day or so)
College Station, TX (residential pickup) to Seattle (residential delivery):
Numbers vary widely. A quote for Sacramento, CA to NY (much further than TX to Seattle), set for pick up from the business here (instead of residential pickup) resulted in lowest quote of $174.97. Sacramento to NY with residential pickup resulted in half the number of quotes and a low quote of $325.73.
I'm also sure the quotes increase as the target moves out of a big city like NY or Seattle, so you would need to check a rural zipcode in Washington near Seattle (pretty much worst case distance if you exclude Alaska and Hawaii in your listing), to be sure it doesn't increase crazily. (I suspect College Station as an origin point resulted in higher numbers - doesn't seem like a huge place)
Also note that as you make it easier for the truckers (business pickup or you drop it off at a terminal and same idea on receiving end), the prices go down and you get more quotes (the truckers who just want to haul something but don't want to play FedEx or UPS delivery guy).
As lja said, you might be better off with Craigslist or other local selling venues with local pickup.
